Oconto native Deral Teteak is featured on a billboard promoted by the University of Wisconsin Alumni Association. (Photo Courtesy of University of Wisconsin Athletics)

An Oconto native who played for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Green Bay Packers, and later served as a Badgers assistant coach, is featured on a “Project 72” billboard this month.

The Wisconsin Alumni Association billboards were created to celebrate individuals and businesses from each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties who have had a positive impact on UW-Madison, the state of Wisconsin and the world, said Vince Sweeney, the association’s vice president for communication.

This year’s Oconto County story features Deral Teteak.

A member of the university’s Class of 1954, Teteak was a 5-foot, 9-inch linebacker who gained the nickname “The Little Bull.” The Packers picked him in the ninth round of the 1952 NFL draft, and he played five seasons for Green Bay, including a Pro Bowl season his rookie year.

He was an assistant coach at UW-Madison from 1957 through 1968, including trips to the Rose Bowl in 1959 and 1962, before returning to Green Bay, where he owned an industrial cleaning supply company. He died in 2014.

This is the second year of Project 72, an initiative launched to recognize what Sweeney called “the powerful partnership between the university and the state’s 72 counties.” A native of each county is featured in billboards standing in their home county. Their stories are posted on the website thankyou72.org.